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What Kind of Employment Opportunities Can an Accounting Major expect |
| With a degree in accounting, you will be able to enter any one of three diversified fields of accounting: public accounting, private industry accounting or governmental accounting. Each of these fields offers a wide variety of opportunities. |
| The descriptions that follow describe the type of work you will be doing. Governmental positions will be similar to those described for private industry, although the position titles may vary somewhat. (This information is taken from the 2000 Salary Guide published by Accountants on Call and Accountants Executive Search.) |
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Public Accounting |
| Partner: A chief executive of the firm or office. A partner canvases and recruits new clients, and is ultimately responsible for the accuracy of all audits, tax forms, and reports |
| Director: A partner-level position, usually not a CPA. A director consults, canvases, and recruits new clients, and may have human resource responsibilities. |
| Manager: A manager supervises staff within his/her area of expertise, and has responsibility for the coordination and completion of all projects. |
| Senior: A person with 3+ years of experience. A senior is responsible for completing audits, tax preparation and the filing of forms. He or she also directs lower echelon staff of specific projects. |
| Staff Accountant: A staff person with 1-3 years experience. A staff accountant assists senior accountants in the research and preparation for audits, projects, and taxes. |
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Private Industry |
| Chief Financial Officer (CFO): The CFO is the highest ranking financial position within a company. Responsibilities include overall financial control of the entire range of financial activity. This individual formulates and recommends banking policies, cash management, credit extensions, fiscal and accounting matter. |
| Treasurer: A senior management executive concerned with long and short-term cash management problems. The treasurer reviews all budgets and financial statements, approves capital expenditures, arranges outside financing and borrowing, and advises on mergers and acquisitions. |
| Controller: The controller holds the highest line supervisory position in the financial division. He or she is responsible for all financial reporting and record keeping functions, and has complete responsibility for the protection of the company's assets. |
| Assistant Controller and Assistant Treasurer: Responsibilities include controlling a significant sequence of division activities, and assisting in the development of detailed budgets and case forecasts. |
| Tax Manager: The tax manager supervises the gathering, timely reporting and payment of all local, state and federal taxes, audits internal data for compliance with the company's own tax procedures, and recommends changes in methods to maximize tax reduction opportunities. |
| Accounting Manager: An accounting manager is responsible for the formulation and supervision of approved accounting practices, and provides accurate reporting of financial results. |
| Senior Accountant: Typical functions of a senior accountant include the preparation of financial statements, management reports, extensive account analysis, and general specific project auditing. |
| Accountant (General, Cost): An individual with 1-3 years experience. He or she prepares financial statements and various accounting reports, audit contracts, orders and vouchers, and implements general accounting systems. |
| Internal or Electronic Data Processing (EDP) Staff Auditor: A staff auditor conducts independent financial and operational audits for management's review of purchasing, production control, inventory, and accounting procedures. |
| Internal or EDP Senor Auditor: This individual organizes information provided by audit staff for analysis and reports, is responsible for the accuracy of all information audited, and supervises staff activities on a day-to-day basis. |
| Manager, Financial Analysis: The manager of financial analysis supervises and coordinates all financial analysis departmental functions. |
| Senior Analyst: The senior analyst is concerned with anticipated financial projections based on past projects, present earnings, and future trends. He or she reviews project proposals for feasibility and profitability. |
| Analyst (Financial, Budget, Cost): An individual with one year experience, the analyst applies principles of accounting to analyze past and present financial operations, estimates future revenues and expenditures, prepares budgets, and develops, installs and maintaining budgeting systems. |
| Credit Manager: The credit manager supervises the activities of employees who collect and compile data on prospective customers while establishing the financial risk involved, maintains updated records on the current customer base and accounting status, is responsible for initiating collection efforts, and has input on investigative, collection and credit policy. |
| Assistant Credit Manager: This individual is directly responsible for daily activities of staff and reporting of account status, and assists int he maintenance of current customer information. |
| Collections Specialist: A collections specialist is responsible for the day-to-day correspondence and telephone procedures related to overdue accounts receivable. |
| Full Charge Bookkeeper: A full charge bookkeeper's responsibilities include the general ledger through trial balances. He or she prepares monthly and yearly adjustments and accruals, and prepares financial statements with limited supervision. |
| Accounts Payable/Accounts Receivable Supervisor: These individuals supervise accounts payable and accounts receivable transactions, entries and trial balances, are responsible for the accuracy of all journal entries, and updating the credit department on account status. |
| Assistant Bookkeeper: An assistant bookkeeper posts entries in all journals, has experience in accounts receivables and payable as well as payroll, and assists in reconciliations. |
| Accounting Clerk: An accounting clerk assists with journal entries under supervision, and helps in the preparation of reports and posting of entries in specific accounts. |
| Data Entry Operator: This individual enters data into terminals, has minimum to above-average stroke count, and can perform both alpha and numeric entry. |
| Payroll Manager: The payroll manager supervises payroll preparation and input of wage and deduction calculations, is responsible for reviewing payroll and tax reports, maintains benefit accruals, and prepares pertinent journal entries. |
| Payroll Clerk: Computes payroll, has knowledge of hourly, weekly, etc., wage calculation, deduction rates and limits, and has the ability to reconcile automated output to source data. |
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